DirecTV Files Lawsuit Against NDS Limited

DirecTV and several of its affiliates have filed a lawsuit against NDS Group plc and two of its subsidiaries. NDS is the provider of DirecTV's conditional access system. The sealed suit was filed under U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

In the lawsuit, DirecTV alleges that NDS breached its business contract and warranty, engaged in fraud and misappropriated trade secrets. DirecTV seeks compensatory and other damages, fulfillment of NDS' contract and an injunction against further breaches of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.

NDS states that the allegations are similar and related to a previous suit that, according to NDS, was "dismissed with prejudice" in February 2002. The company states the two suits are "without merit and a pretext designed to enable DirecTV to circumvent restrictions on DirecTV's future use of NDS' intellectual property."

DirecTV denies that assertion, stating that the current lawsuit is unrelated to the previous one, and was dismissed after a settlement was reached.